Process of fluid treating webs of fabric



July 20, 1948. s. H. WILLIAMS PROCESS OF FLUID TREATING WEBS 0F FABRICSFiled Oct. 6, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 20, 1948. s. H. WILLIAMS2,445,504

PROCESS OF FLU ID TREATING WEBS 0F FABRICS Filed Oct. 6, 1944 3Sheets-Sheet 2 y 20, 1948- s. H. WILLIAMS 2,445,504

PROCESS OF FLUID TREATING WEBS OF FABRICS Filed Oct. 6, 1944 3Shee'ts-Sheet 3 i! i W1 '1' 1i 'i M I n M .1 =1 '1 JP 12 J8 J awe/whomJriz lmerjf suitable way to carry out this Patented July 20, 1948PROCESS OF FLUID TREATING WEBS OF FABRIC Sumner H. Williams, Charlotte,N. 0. Application October 6, 1944, Serial No. 557,459

1 Claim. 1

The purpose of this invention is to produce controlled uniformity ofdyed or chemically treated lots of material by a continuous operation.From a control standpoint, I have found that a function is to firstapply the colors or chemicals tothe material and then carry either in acontinuous operation, or as a separate operation, for further dyeing ordeveloping, to the unit such as designed, inorder to further properlyfix or fasten the dyestuffs to the material or fibres. This procedure isbest explained on the order of a continuous vat pigment form of dyeing.I use the vat colors in citing this instance, but the same is true ofany of the other groups of colors or chemicals that require additionaldevelopment, reduction or fixation in order that they may be dyed ortreated to obtain their maximum fastness. The vat colors in theirpigment form have little or no affinity and, therefore, can be appliedvery uniform over the material to be dyed, in this form, but requirefurther reduction treatment so that they may be properly afiixed to thematerial to produce their rated fastness.

One object of this invention is to takesuch pretreated materialcontaining these pigment dyes or chemicals, or other coloring matter, toa developing or dyeing unit, such as shown, either in a wet or dry stateand gravity feed a treating solution with the material through aconfined channel area arranged so that the treating fluid follows thematerial in an even manner, and due to the close confinement, the vatpigments in the process of becoming solubilized or reduced are preventedfrom bleeding off into a wide area of solution, as this solution travelswith the material, closely confined. The stripping off action orbleeding is held to a very close minimum and produces results from adyeing standpoint that cannot be obtained by the present methods in use,such as the adding of pre-dissolved dyes to a dyebath.

By pre-treating the material with this coloring matter, it is possibleto use types of dyestuffs that vary considerably in their rates ofexhaust or have different chemical structuresand produce even dyeingeffects by such mixtures, which are uniformly controlled. If suchmixtures of colors were dissolved and added to a tank of any structureas the material would pass through, the fastest dyeing types would beabsorbed first out of the solution, leaving behind the less sub-stantivetypes and produce an uncontrollable dyeing factor. By carrying suchmixtures or groups of colors that have already been adhered to thefabric.

material, such as by padding them on or by any other means, for furtherdyeing and development, they may be carried with the material, togetherwith the fluid, so that no remaining color is left back in anystationary part of the treating liquid, as the treating liquid is forcedby gravity to flow concurrent with the material until the dyeing orchemical action has been completed. 7

It has taken many years of research to devise a movable treating fluidin a confined area to produce the results as explained.

The following description relates to my invention in the process andapparatus of treating material. More particularly it deals with chemicaltreatment whether bleaching, dyeing, washing or otherwise of acontinuous web of textile The web or fabric or material, as mentionedhere, may be in any physical form, such as thread or yarn or yarnsgrouped together, known as warps.

Textile fabrics have been made by weaving, knitting or otherwise, yarnthread or other strands in great varieties of materials thus the fiberswhich are spun together to form the material may be animal fibers suchas silk, wool and mohair, mineral fibers such as asbestos, sodiumsilicate and similar forms or may be of vegetable origin such as naturalfibers of cotton, flax and synthetic fibers as cellulose acetate,viscose or cuprammonium and all other forms of synthetic silk-likematerials as nylon and casein fibers. Frequently these materials aremade up not only of a single type of fiber but a mixture of variousmaterials such as above described.

Chemical treatment of such mixed fibers for bleaching, dyeing orotherwise conditioning, must take into consideration differences inreaction by the several types of fibers and difierent periods of time orconditions which must be observed in producing a satisfactory uniformproduct.

This invention proposes a process for the chemical treatment of suchtextile fabrics regardless of their particular constitution andapplicable for many operations such as bleaching, dyeing and the like.

In many instances satisfactory treatment of the material is dependentupon avoiding unnecessary exposure to the air either of the reactingsolution or of the fabric undergoing treatment. In the treatment of acontinuous web of material it is important to insure even and uniformexposure of the material throughout its length to the reacting solutionor solutions. In like manner it is necessary to bring the reactingsolution into the most intimate contact with the terial under treatment.

fabric until the desired chemical and physical actions take placebetween the material and ingredients carried by the treating liquid.This invention provides for the dyeing, bleaching or other chemicaltreatment of a continuous web of material in a manner that allows thematerial to be treated evenly on all sides as the layer of treatinggliquid .completely surrounds the material and is held in close contactto the latter by the particular construction of narrow channels throughwhich the material to be treated moves and thus is brought into contactwith the treating fluid which is also in motion either in the directionof the material or in the opposite direction. This brings about fasterchemicaltreatment due to utilizing the full area of this liquidtraveling in motion with the material.

This procedure maintains a positive control-and a desirable low ratio oftreating liquid to the ma- By the material being surrounded with such athin layer of liquid the ingredients which are either'dissolved or heldin suspension in the'liquidare forced by close con- "tact to reactevenly over the material for the purposeintended and without loss. Thisis in direct contrast to the prevailing practice which either forces thechemical solutions through stationarilyheldmaterials or converselyagitates the material in a-normally stationary treating solution.

My invention uses a basically diiferent principle, that of causing thematerial to travel through themachine so that the material is submerged-in a minimum quantity of the liquid so arranged-as to bring thematerial in close contact with the dyes, bleaching agents or otherchemicals. At the same time the treating liquid is caused -to travelincontact with the fabric until completion of the desired chemicalreaction,

To define more clearlythe'treatment of material either chemically orwith dyestufis, inasmuch as the chemicals or coloring matter may react(not only chemically but physically, this in vention covers themechanical and physical reactions between the material to be treated andthe ingredients, which are brought in contact with it, contained inthefluid, as these ingredients .in the fluid may be chemically inert andare mechanically forced on the material by either close contactinprocessingsame by the method stated.

Toproperlycarryout my process for the chemical treatment ofacontinuously advancing web of textile fabric, I .have designed animproved apparatus capable ofsuccessfully treating the-material and inparticular dyeing it by anyone of the different types of dyes. The.apparatus is equally advantageous for bleaching and other chemicaltreatments than dyeing.

A furtherobjectiofmy invention .is to provide an apparatus by which thematerial may be treated toa blend of.colors giving a desired shade.Thistreatment maybe simultaneous or successive when the dyes havediiiierent afiinities for the fiber treated or adhere to the material atdifferent rates of speed. .By applying these colors together with .thematerial or by first treating the material with these colors and thenpassing them through the apparatus for Ifurther development, the forcedcontact of the reacting materials with .the fabric in a confinedareaandsubject to common motion, the dyes are prevented from exhausting asthey would react when applied from stationary solutions.

In particular the reacting chemicals with which it is intended to treatthe fabric, may be fed to extend the full width the apparatus either atthe point of entrance or at any subsequent stage, or separate reagentsmay be added at separate points in order to bring the reaction tocompletion at the point of delivery.

A still further object of my invention is to maintain a desired controlof the temperature of the material and reacting liquid.

.sAmongrthe objects ofamyiinventionis to economize thechemicalagentsused and to guard them from unnecessary exposure to oxidation.

As an illustration of the preferred form of apparatus by which myinvention may be carried rout, I have shown a typical installation inthe the area of thejfabric to be treated permitting the movement of the.treatingliquid along with or contraryto the course of the webbeingtreated and with minimum exposure to the air.

Such an arrangement is accomplished with a tank 4 WhiChIiS composed ofsuitable material to withstan'dlthe chemicals in'the treating solutions.This tank hasfheating means such as the coil 5 or analogous means bywhich the water or other fluid in the tank maybekept at the desiredtemperature most satisfactory for carrying out the chemical treatment.

The tank has an'inner wall or lining'fi'by which the tankbecomes aheating Water jacket. This lining is formed with verticalpartitions ordams. Ihave shown two such transverse hollow partitions"! and 8extending upwardly in the tank. The top of the'transverse partition!) isslightly lower'thanthe 'top 'of;roll"2ll, preceding this partition. Fig.1 shows'that the 'fluid'trave'ls over the first top roll 20, followingthe material into the roll '26, is slightly lower than the first,allowing the liquid to cascade from one channel to the other. The dam'9, slightly lower than roll 20, allows for a continuation of the flowof liquid into the'next series of channels, the cascade of liquidflowing-over the top of each roll 20, until reaching the exhaust leveli8.

At the head or entrance end of the tank the innerwall or linings risesabove the tank to form a funnel or chute lfi'which'in Fig.2 is shown toof the tank and to permit the entrance of the web of fabric 16.

The ch'emical solution is added in'desired quantity'to the funnel 1-5through the inlet pipe l1.

After flowing through -the tank the spent chemical liquid overflowsthrough the pipe [8.

Suitably journaled in the side walls of "the tank assh'own-at T9 in Fig.'2, is a series of rolls 20. A roll "20 surmoun'ts each partition 1, 8,[0, H, l3 'and T4 and has a diameter slightly greater than thepartition. Each'of'the several rolls 20, is slightly lower than itspreceding roll, so that the liquid fiowingover the top of th'efirst'roll '20, flows through and under the "baffles, following thematerial, and cascades over the second roll 20, continuing-over dam 9and in the same manner throughout the balance of the machine to wells 23between the several partitions. dams and the walls of the tank.Thesepartitions extend below the full width of the tank. They have atransverse width slightly less than the'wells in which they aresuspended thus providing narrow passageways for the web and thesurrounding liquid.

The lower end of each baffle has a pair of standards 24 in which isjournaled a roller 25. This roller has a diameter slightly greater thanthe transverse width of the baffle. The diameters of the rolls and 25are such that the web l6 passes through the narrow channels between thebaffles and the adjacent partitions, dams or tank walls.

Suitably mounted on standards 26 on the side of the tank are rolls 21and 28 arranged in super posed pairs. The first pair of rolls '2'!surmounts the dam 9 and the lower roll 28 has adiameter such that theweb rises upwardly along one side of the dam and down the other sideequally spaced between the vertical faces of the dam and the adjacentbaflles.

A second pair of rolls 29 and 30 is mounted above the tank and the daml2 in the same manner and for the same purpose.

At the discharge end of the-tank a third pair of rolls 3| and 32 ismounted to receive the web as it rises from the narrow space between.the baffle 2| and the wall of the hollow tank 6.

Each pair of rolls is driven with suitable driving means provided torotate the rolls advancing the material through the machine, theirpurpose being to cut down the strain and lessen the tension on thefabric in its travel through the apparatus.

Figure 3 illustrates the method of starting the chemical treatment. Therequisite quantity of chemical solution having been runinto the wells23, a web It is passed between the pairs of rolls 21, 28,29, 30, 3| and32.

The baffles are then lowered, either simultaneously or successively intotheir respective wells. This serves to festoon the web so that it passesdown near the end wall 5 of the tank around the roller 25 of the firstbaffle and thence around the roller 20 above the partition 1; Eachbaillejl establishes a corresponding festoon in its respective well. 1

It will be apparent that the web delivered from the well in advance ofthe dam 9 is carried up to the first pair of rolls before festooningthrough the wells between the dams 9 and I2. In like manner the webpasses through the second-rolls before festooning in the wells betweendam l2 and the third pair of rolls. 1

The treating fluid reaches a level above the partition I, over top roll.20 and the level of film of liquid over this rollis governed by thespeed of the fluid fed into the machine at FL The speed of thetravel ofthe fluid with the material is, therefore, regulated at point of entryl1, and point of exhaust l8. As the solution cascades over the top ofeach roller and down through the channels with the material, the speedof flow is governed at the point of entry, and the height of film abovethe rollers 20 is governed at the point of exhaust l8.

As the web is drawn through the apparatus it will carry with it a thinnarrow surrounding stream of treating liquid modified only by thewringing action of the rolls. Fresh liquid is fed into the funnel orhopper I5 as the spent liquid is discharged from the overflow l8.

The surface of the treating liquid exposed to the air is limited to thatarea between the bafiles and over the dams. This is a verysmallratiocompared. with the area of fabric being treated. Consequently there is aminimum of deterioration of the treating liquid which is very importantwhere the latter must be protected against oxidation. I

- In some-instances separate dye solutions may be introducedsuccessively. For examplea dye which operates slowly may be introducedwith the web and followed by the introduction of a more rapidlyoperating dye into the well between the dam 9 and partition I'll. Thusboth dyes will have completed their reaction as the web leaves thefinalwell.

Some reactions may suggest the advisability of drawing the web throughthe apparatus in the reverse direction to theflow of liquid reagent.This of course will be easily accomplished in the apparatus asdescribed. 1 Likewise the several wells may be arranged horizontally sothat the material and fluid may be caused to traverse back and forth ina horizontal direction. 7

Instead of heating the water bath of the tank by means of the coil 5, Imay also use steam, gas or electrical units. Such heating means may alsobe applied to the removable baffles.

The'process of chemically treating the fabric in this apparatus may becarried out for various objects. Thus the process is peculiarly adaptedfor all types of vat or leuco colors which due to their oxidizingproperties are dyed to the best advantage in baths or solutions that arenot exposed tothe air. Such colors are indanthrene blue BCS-color indexNo. 1114 and caledon jade green-color No. 1101. With such colors thebaffling of the path gives a maximum area of fabric in contact with thesolution and a minimum exposure of liquid. This consequently minimizesthe required amounts of reducing chemicals such as sodium hydrosulphite.

It will be evident that similar advantages are obtained by confiningbleaching solutions such as sodium or hydrogen peroxide and solution ofchlorine incidental to carrying out a bleaching operation. 1 i i As' anexample of continuously dyeing with direct or substantive dyes I havecarried out the process with diamine sky blue FF-color index No. 518 andchrysophenine color index No: 365 obtaining all depths of shades. Thematerial was first treatedv with a direct color by passing the materialthrough a bath containing the color in a water solution. The fabric wasthen taken to the illustrated apparatus eitherwet or dry where thedyeing and developing was accomplished by the further treatment of thematerial with the solution of common salt. This-solution traveled in thethin area with the material at 200 F. forcing the proper fixation of thedyestuff to the fiber until the reaction was completed. The applicationof this group of colorssurpasses in time and control the conventionalmethods in use for applying this group of dyestuffs.

The second method used in applying the direct colors is by entering theuntreated material, containing no dyestuffs, to the machine and feedingsimultaneously the dissolved color along with the necessary chemicals,and the color and'material traveling together until the dyes areabsorbed out of the fluid onto the material to a point where the dyeinaction is complete, adding, it necessary, solutions of common salt orother chemicals that. may be necessary to accelerate the dyeing actionbetween the material and the colors held inthefluid. i

. Sulphur. dyestuffs; such: as .immedial'. green-- c'olo'r': index" No;.1106 and .immedial orange 6* "-colortin'dex No:.-949 arerapplied: inthe samermanto the-treatingliquid-and causing thefabric and liquid: to?travel together in? close contact; Here againathea-dyeingractionj iscompleted: in a shorter. space I of time; with amore -'-completecontrolof final shade and less oxidation of the dyestuif;

In applying diazo ordevelopeddyes' such'as primulineecolorind'exs No.812 ordiamineblack BH-c-olor indextNoz- 401,- the'first step iscarriedout" inrthe'same' manner as with direct or substan tive dyestuffsbut as these colors necessitates. furthertreatment; necessary toproduce" their desired fastnessrand true shade, they are further.chemically treated. Thus the fabric: which-already contains the fixeddyestufl' is passewthrough-the apparatus-- containing "the solution withsodium nitrite and either-hydrochloric orsulphuric acid: For: theproduction. oithe final shade thefabric may be treated further'innthesame apparatus after rinsing, by-applying such developers :as betanaphthol 01 other" suitable chemicals.

Ihave used? this process also for: the dyeing of vat colors-shownbycolor indexes suchas anthra yellowGG'-colo'r index: No: 1095-,indanthrene olive-Rcolo1':index-No; 1150;. bromide indigoMInB/iB1color"index"No-.: 1184 and. helindone pink BNc=ol'or index No-1211. These include the anthraquinone,fthe indigoid; both bromide andthe thio indigoi'd types,. including synthetic indigo-c'olor index-v No.1 1'77 or 'hydron" blues color' index Nos.- 969 and 971, carbasols;andthe water soluble vat colors: or leuco' vatsrs'uchs as known to thetrade as al'go'solsor indigo'sols (cale don jade greeneindex" color No;1101'); All these groups have been dyed successfully by this process by1 treating the material to" be dyed t with these dyes inipigment orinsoluble form andcen; tered into the continuous developing and dyeingunit, either wet ordr'y; intowhich'istfed simultaneouslythe necessaryreducing." and dyeing chemicals; such as hydrosulphite of sodium,.caus=tic soda and common salt-,- all traveling together} the'materi-als'dyesand solution throughthenarrow channels. or'orifices until the dyeaction" is complete; By dyeing these colors'in such. a confined" fluidmedium which travels with? the material throughout 1 the machine inclose contact with: each other, thematerial is surrounded by a thinlayer ofsolution. The reduction and dyeing action takes place-in such" aconfined area that complete exhausts of dyes are obtained in aluminiumspace of time, producing results thatheretofore have not-beenaccomplished in the practical art of handling the groupsof dyestuifmentioned; This is particularly true in'th'e dyeing of what is known tothe trade as h'eavy or dark-shades of vat colors such were still 'bestappliedbywhat is knownas either" jig or padji'g-methodof dyeing. Inthisprocess it'isinecessary topass-tlie material a num'ber oftim'es backand-forth through the solution inorder to properly obtain the correctshade -and"fast'ness' and duringthese passages portions-of a variouscolor combination may come off orgo back-' onu'nevenly, producingunpredictable results; Inproducing these sameheavy-shadesby thisinvention the pigment color eitherin dispersed" or soluble form is firstapplied to the-fabric'and then: carried or passed through thismachineeither in onecontinuous operation or as a sep'-' arate: treatmentby the" material having con-' tained .t-heunfixed dyestuff. The colorsmust be put in a soluble iorm byreduction as the dyes ofthis'groupofcolors are made soluble by entering them into a reducing solution. Theyhave anatura'l tendency to bleed out into the area of fl'uid into whichtheyare immersed. By this invention they-are immersed in such a thinlayer of solution, the dyeings are forced in contact withthematerialpreventing this bleeding off into an area: of solution which is a. majorfactor in producing true shadesby holding the dyestufi on the'materi'al,by running it throughthe closely fitted channels which prevent the dyes,as they become soluble, to leave the material and bleed out. into a-widearea of'fluid. As this group' of colors. has been passed throughthismachine where the reducing anddyeing action takes place; theyareeithertthen in a separate or in a continuous operation, washed andoxidized in the usual. manner necessary to treat this class vofdyestufis.

Additionally I may carry out the dyeing" and developing of the naphtholor insoluble azo group of colors represented as a group by naphthol as(beta-hydroxynaphthoic acid anilide) developed with fast scarletsalt'GGN (stabilized diazo salt of 2,5 -dichloroaniline) andnaphtholAS-G diacetoaceti'c tolidedeveloped with fast red B base5-nitro-4-aminotoluene. The same principles ofler their advantages inthis field where materials must be brought in contact with chemicals ordevelopers'to produce a chemical reaction or completion of process. Thematerials to be treated are carried together with the chemicals throughthis continuous dyeing and developing unit in close contact in theconfined areas as shown, which produce, due to their design, resultsmuch more satisfactory than any of the other conventional continuousmethods now employed in the art. 7

From the above detailed description it will be apparent that I havedevised a method of dyeing, developing and treating fabrics withchemicals by continuous movement of the fabric, the liquid and chemicalsthrough a confined area so that the fabric is evenly surrounded byliquid. The close contact forces the material in the liquid to reactwith the fabric. This process results in improvements and advantages andsimplifies the control in production in dyeing and chemical treatment.It also gives greater economy in the use of the chemicals and dyes byutilizing avery low rati'o of liquid to the fabric treated.

The-invention is supplemented by the'novel and improved apparatusincluding the removable bafll'es and attached immersion rolls whichblock exposure of all but a thin .area of the liquid. Manyminor detailsin the process and apparatus are possible without departing from thescope of the. following claim.

I claim:

A continuous process of treatinga continuous Web. of. fabric. with achemical solution,- which consistsin drawing the web successivelydownwardly and upwardly through. a tank, reducing the elevationof theweb. drawn through said tank successively and progressively with thehighest elevation of said Webbeing nearest the point of admission ofsaidweb into the tank, feeding a chemical solutioninto thetank at a pointimmediately. adjacent that at which. the web enters the tank,successively bafllingsaid solution and 10 web together in a confinedarea at progressively REFERENCES CITED lower levels with the highestbailiing point bein nearest the point of admission of said solution iifig gzgg are of record m the into the tank, moving the chemicalsolution through the tank by the combined action of 5 UNITED STATESPATENTS drawing said web therethrough and the effect of Number Name Dategravity to cause said solution to travel in a thin 1,029,366 HaskellJune 18' 1912 stream immediately surrounding and with said 1,402,765Haskell Jam 10, 1922 web, removing said web from the tank, and.simultaneously withdrawing spent solution from 10 said tank adjacent thepoint of removal of the web from said tank.

SUMNER H. WILLIAMS.

